Say Something (Percabeth Percy Jackson Short Story)
by BaneOfWisdom
Summary: Percy Jackson's final breath, the song of the mourners, it's hard to believe he's gone.
1. Say Something- Percy

**I don't own the song or the characters. Song Used: Say Something- Christina Aguilera ft. A Great Big World.**

_**Say something I'm giving up on you...**_

Percy's black hair whipped around his face as a pain-wrenching scream was torn from his body. He swayed dangerously for a little, in shock, not noticing the slow, steady, mesmerizing patterns of crimson, almost scarlet liquid spreading across the belove orange fabric of the well faded, torn and bloody T-Shirt. His knees gave way as Riptide clattered to the floor, and he collapsed face-first into the marble floors, dangerously twisting the blade embedded in his chest and earning another scream from between the parched lips of the broken boy as it further opened the hole in his chest.

_**I'll be the one if you want me to...**_

He lay there, desperately trying to get air and force it into his lungs. He was vaguely aware of the blur of screaming and voices and battle that raged around him. He could only hear the ringing in his head and listened as it got louder and louder, the sweet, sweet darkness of silence and relief and _death_ slowly creeping to the sides of the son of Poseidon's vision. He was so light, so why was he falling?

_**Anywhere I would've followed you...**_

Why was he falling when he should be flying? Flying through the air with his friends, flying through life with his Wise Girl, his Annabeth, and his mom and Paul...but he didn't regret his decision. He couldn't bear to be the cause of another's death. So he made an exchange. A life for a life. But in his heart, Percy knew he wasn't supposed to be there. Down, lying helplessly in his own crimson blood, painting the white marble floor with his red paint and his black death. He so desperately wanted to get up, but he couldn't. All he cared about was that Annabeth was okay. He'd made a stupid mistake and put people in danger, so here he was, dying as he paid the self-imposed price.

_**Say something I'm giving up on you...**_

His ribs were collapsed, his lungs bruised. His left arm had been snapped and his leg was broken. His back and his chest flared with pain. But Percy knew that pain was an unspecific and immeasurable tool. You could lie about it. You couldn't diagnose anything with it. But that doesn't change the fact that everything hurt anyways. His sword arm was fatigued, and his other leg was a blurry mess of tired. That was before his decision. Getting run through with a sword and falling on it hadn't improved it. The tin-like taste of blood filled his mouth and sweat poured down his face. His dark hair was matted down with blood and sweat and dust.

_**And I am feeling so small...**_

Percy had spent so much of his life looking up, looking ahead, donning a smile and helping others through the pain, through the fear. But now, he was scared. Terrified. Shocked. Horrified. He'd admit it. But for gods' sake, he was only eighteen. This wasn't supposed to happen. No, not now! It wasn't how it was supposed to end! So much he still had left...so much he could've done... _so much... just too much..._ With him gone, who'd help protect the seven? Who'd lighten up the mood? Who'd give Annabeth the love and life she deserved? Who'd get turned to for any advice? Just...just _who?!_

_**It was over my head...**_

An explosion near him sent people flying and him smashing into a column, staining it red. The ringing in his head was louder. Where was everyone? His breath started to come in short, sharp gasps, but even so, he tried to stay. He felt like he was hanging over the pit of Tartarus. Helpless, useless, suffocating slowly. Panic and pain pulled him under and for one moment Percy was a good enough person to hope he'd already died and he didn't have to waste time being a limp rag doll in a battle, but as almost always, life and mind, he was dragged and left on the shore, the waves washing over his tired and damaged body and unable to drown.

_**I know nothing at all...**_

Another scream poured from between his lips as a misaimed arrow shot into his shoulder. Everything, every part of his body was screaming in protest, his labored breathing getting shorter and stuttering and he made the mistake of rolling over, accidentally pushing the arrow deeper into his shoulder. He bit his lip and spit out blood. It was a miracle he was alive, but the pain made his already incoherent thoughts blurry.

_**And I will stumble and fall...**_

_"Anyone in particular?"_

_"You're laughing at me!"_

_"Am not!"_

_"You are so not making this easy."_

_"I am never, ever going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."_

_**I'm still learning to love...**_

_"Percy, let me go. You can't pull me up."_

_"Never. The other side, Nico! We'll see you there. Understand?"_

_"But-"_

_"Lead them there! Promise me!"_

_"I-I will."_

_"We're staying together. You're not getting away from me. Never again."_

_"As long as we're together."_

_**Just starting to crawl...**_

_"Annabeth?" _

_"Mhm?"_

_"You know I love you, right?"_

_"Of course, Seaweed Brain. You're the best boyfriend I could ask for."_

_"Okay."_

_"Why? You aren't planning on doing something stupid, are you?"_

_"No, I just wanted to know."_

_"Okay. I'm not losing you again. You're not allowed to die or go missing."_

_"Yes, ma'am."_

_"Love you too."_

_**Say something I'm giving up on you...**_

How would everyone react to his death? Gods, he hadn't thought about that. His Wise Girl, Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Poseidon, Paul, his Mom, his friends at camp... Would they care? Would they mourn? Would they throw him in the dirt and cover him like he was nothing? Percy's head spun as a chunk of rock came to skidding stop beside him, sending dust into his face, making him choke through gasps before he regained some control. How would his decision make everyone feel? If only he could explain to Annabeth why, because he loved her so much, and his Mom. Another kind of pain overwhelmed his nearly numb mind as he thought of all the things he'd leave behind in his ashes. Could those he left rise from it?

_**Anywhere I would have followed you...**_

A huge chunk of rock slammed into his side, sending the dying hero into another wall, making him dizzy. Percy's thoughts flashed back to a few minutes ago when he'd wished he were already dead. Suddenly, Percy wanted more time, more time for everyone. But most of all, he had a message to deliver. And it was the kind of message that had to be told, felt in person. No other person or recording could tell it. Percy squeezed his blurry eyes shut and breathed out. Some small part of him wished he would see a blonde haired figure leap down from above, and grey eyes meet his eyes to save him from the hell he was living. But no one came.

_**I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you...**_

Percy felt selfish as he thought this, but he couldn't remember a time when anyone had failed to save him, no matter how grave the injuries. How many times had Annabeth, Clarisse, Jason, Leo, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Chiron, countless others saved him? From when he'd stumbled into Camp Half-Blood, dazed with the 'death' of his mother, to the nursing back to health from battles to surviving Tartarus. They had been his anchor, his life, his world.

_**Say something I'm giving up on you...**_

Was this how Leo felt when he'd faced his last moments, sacrificing himself last year to save them and the world? To stop Gaea? He'd come back, and everyone had been relieved, but Percy knew that if he left now he'd wander the Underworld for an eternity, walking across ground the dead did as his loved ones walked above.

_**And I will swallow my pride...**_

Beaten, broken, helpless? Begging silently but knowing nothing would change, nobody would come. _They_ weren't coming?

Another enormous explosion finally let the column he'd slammed into fall, and Percy managed with his better hand to drag himself away from it, getting hit from behind by debris. Pain rioted through the boy's body as his beaten body and mind started to break and the glass he'd tried to keep smooth inside of him finally started to shatter. Percy gave another cry as another arrow pierced his other arrow wound.

_**You're the one that I loved...**_

Any pretense of strength left Percy, his body going limp as he lay helplessly in the third pool of his own blood and made another gruesome painting across the dusty floor. He held back his tears as best as he could. He looked away at the distant glow of the city and even camp. Percy bit his lip. His one chance, one hope of escape was gone. Percy felt as though the Fates had started to spin his future with thread, then barbed wire, then electrocuted, bloody barbed wire to see how much he could handle. Percy suddenly didn't feel so much pain anymore. His vision was either washed in light or darkness.

He felt a gentle shoulder on his hand. Then another, and more going up and down his body. The touch of friends. The touch of welcome and love. The touch of _home. _

_"It's okay, Percy. You're a true hero. It's okay to let go." _The voice of Luke Castellan rang in his already painfully ringing ears.

_**And I'm saying goodbye...**_

A warm, soft hand gently caressed the side of his face and he felt himself curling into the touch, desperate for any comfort. The hand passed over his face, wiping away the tears Percy had worked for years to hide, the tears Percy had finally let flow freely down his face.

_"You can let go, Perce. ..We're here for you... We're waiting for you..." _The comforting voice of Silena Beauregard met Percy.

_**Say something I'm giving up on you...**_

Another pair of hands clasped his. Dark, warm hands, promising that he wouldn't be alone. Hands that promised love and appreciation. Hands that were ripped away far too soon.

_"You've done well, Perce...this fight- your fight is over." _Charles Beckendorf...

_**And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you...**_

_"Let go, Percy..."_

_"It's almost done, Perce..."_

_"You've done well, Percy..."_

"Percy!"

_**And anywhere I would've followed you...**_

The flash of blonde hair blocked his view of the setting sun and blood red skyline, but the light only grew brighter. It blinded his sea-green eyes and his eyelids started drifting down of their own accord. Three comforting presences solidified as the pain slowly flooded from his body and his vision became brighter. Despite it, Percy felt his lips turn up into a small smile as he let loose one last tear from his losing eyes.

_"I'll see you again someday...Wise Girl...I love...you...Annabeth..."_

_**Say something I'm giving up on you...**_

"No, Percy! Stay awake! No..No..No..Percy! Don't close your eyes! Don't go! Stay with me! Percy! Talk to me! Percy! Percy please...

_**Say something...**_

_All inspired by the book Say Something by HomidalLunatic, about the hero Nightwing in the DC Universe and their amazing writing._


	2. Broken Arrows- Nico

**I don't own characters or song.**

**Song: Broken Arrows by Daughtry**

_**The best of intentions...**_

Nico glanced up at the giant memorial statue of his friend. The statue of the lost hero. The statue of his cousin. The statue of Percy Jackson.

_**I lay at your feet...**_

Nico was currently at the point of camp where they'd decided to build memorial statues for the life-changing fallen heroes who'd helped change the world, sacrificing their lives in the process. Annabeth had been in charge of most of it. He'd never imagined that she'd have to plan the statue of her boyfriend. Nico had always wondered why they hadn't placed the statues out in the world to see. The world knew they'd died for something greater, just not the details. Why did they keep them hidden in here? Luke, Silena, Beckendorf, Ethan, Percy...

_**And I need you to see past the worst part of me...**_

Most of these heroes had died in the Second Titan War, sacrificing their lives heroically the stop Kronos and the world being destroyed. But there were people like Percy, who'd died when Gaea had returned and had sacrificed himself to save them. There had been a prophecy that Gaea would die when the heart and pride of heroes fell. Gaea had died when Percy had. Nico had strongly felt that they should present these statues to the world, not hiding them away. These heroes needed to be remembered and honored. But no, they're hidden away, to be forgotten and never spoken of again. It wasn't fair...

_**I'm tired of taking my aim... when I keep on missing...**_

Nico let out a bitter laugh. Who was he to talk about fairness? The way he'd treated Percy during and after the Titan War and Giant War was unacceptable. So selfish, so scared, he'd pushed out everybody and snapped and everything.

_**There's gotta be a better way...gotta be a better way...**_

Nico sighed a little as he looked at the large statue. The statue of Percy Jackson.

_**And every little word I say...**_

He was standing with his arms crossed and Riptide was hefted in one hand. He had his serious look on him. The only thing that made his statue different from the others was the fact that it changed its shape.

_**Keeps getting twisted...**_

Every 4-5 minutes the statue shifted his form, changing into a thirteen-year-old. It would revert to Percy as a young demigod. The young Percy would be standing with his weight shifted onto one leg, and one hand on his hip, which was also clutching pen form of Riptide, and the other hand would be flashing a peace out sign. His messy hair dangled a little in his face. He also had the childish, mischevious grin that he used to wear when he was younger.

_**Or coming out wrong...so baby hold on...**_

Then roughly 2 minutes later it would change back to the eighteen-year-old Percy statue, so different.

_**I'm tryin' to hit the mark but I'm shooting with broken arrows...**_

Nico like how they'd designed Percy's statue. It really showed how much he'd changed over the years until he'd become that eighteen-year-old demigod legend. He had become much more serious over the years.

_**It's like I'm shooting with broken arrows...**_

Nico had never even noticed when his cousin had stopped using his humor and words like "_Annoyingness". _And stopped using names like, _"Death Breath, Pine Face..."Hell, _he hadn't even noticed when Percy stopped using his signature smirk, his signature smile, stopped laughing his signature laugh. He'd never noticed...

_**No...I may not be the same but I got a heart of gold...**_

Maybe it was because he was never there anymore...

_**Yeah...oh, like a telephone...**_

He should probably blame himself for that though.

_**Connection ain't clear but I hope you hear soul...you gotta know...**_

Ever since the end of the Titan War and the beginning and end of the Giant War, Nico had isolated himself from the demigod camp and world and spent most of his time focused on himself and himself only.

_**The best of intentions...I lay at your feet...**_

He was so determined to leave the world and camp and his feelings behind he'd started ignoring Percy's Iris messages and letters, thinking that the hero would be trying to rope him back into the camp and the monster-fighting game. But after the argument they'd had... he was surprised Percy still tried to talk to him at all.

_**And I need you to see past the worst part of me...**_

_"You're leaving?"_

_"Yes, Perce. I'm leaving this life and going out alone."_

_"Nico-"_

_"No, it's already been decided. I'm leaving the demigod/hero gig behind. Don't try to change my mind."_

_**I'm tired of taking my aim...when I keep on missing...**_

_"But Nico-"_

_"I said no Percy! Look, I know we're cousins and all, but you need to grow up and realize that nothing lasts forever. I'm done with the hero gig. Our days of playing hero and killing monsters together are over. I want a normal life. If you can't respect that, I guess we aren't really friends, are we?"_

_"Nico...I was just going to say I was happy for you and you'll always have a home here..."_

_**There's gotta be a better way...gotta be a better way...**_

Nico had to admit to himself that he had felt a little guilty after that. He was probably just so dead set on leaving the life behind that he tried to avoid any situations that might change his mind.

_**And every little word I say...keeps getting twisted...**_

Even though he knew he had hurt Percy when he'd snapped at him, he never had the guts to apologize to the teen after he left the camp.

_**Or coming out wrong...so baby hold on...**_

Sometimes Nico thinks that its that argument and the fact that he ignored the teen that started to take its toll and change him.

_**I'm tryin' to hit the mark but I'm shooting with broken arrows...**_

After two months of staying away from the demigod world, he managed to convince himself that he should go visit the camp. So he did.

_**It's like I'm shooting with broken arrows...it's like I'm shooting with broken arrows..yeah...**_

He was met with warm hugs and welcomes from the rest of the camp, most were from Percy. But something was different about the hero...he wasn't smiling as much anymore.

_**It's like I'm shooting with broken arrows...it's like I'm shooting with broken arrows..yeah...**_

He paid no attention to it though. He just figured that it must have been the anniversary of the Titan or Giant War recently.

_**I'm driving it back now...**_

Normally, when the anniversary came around, Percy would be down low for a few days before returning to normal again.

As he started visiting the camp on a weekly basis, Nico realized the Son of Poseidon wasn't getting any better.

_**And the target is you...**_

He was smiling and laughing a lot less than usual. His huge, mischevious grin had been reduced to a small, soft smile and his smirk had turned into a faint turning up of the lips. His laugh had gone from a cheerful cackle to a soft snicker-like laugh. He even stopped calling them pet names and making up words and became more serious. By the time five months had passed since he started visiting camp, Percy was already in full serious mode.

_**And I don't know what else...**_

There was a day, though, when Nico started worrying and confronted Percy about the sudden change in personality.

The teen only replied by saying, _"You're the one who told me to grow up, weren't you?" _Before turning and walking away from the Son of Hades.

_**I can do...oh...**_

Nico remembered standing there for a full five minutes before he actually comprehended what Percy had said.

_**I'm tired of taking my aim...**_

To say he felt guilty was an understatement. But even so, he started visiting camp less and less again until their visits were at least three months apart.

He tried to convince himself to go...but he didn't.

_**When I keep on missing...**_

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and eventually, those months turned into years. A lot happened in those years.

Percy started dating Annabeth, then became serious, new demigods joined, Leo came back, demigods on a quest died...

Then came the day Percy Iris messaged Nico to ask for help against Gaea, who'd risen again, telling him of the new prophecy. That had set Nico off. He was enraged at Percy and tried desperately to convince himself not to go. But much to his dismay, some small part of him insisted. Then he took his anger out on Percy.

_**There's gotta be a better way...there's gotta be a better way...**_

Percy might have grown more serious over the years, but he never lost his kind heart or the ability to stay calm in stressful situations. He dealt with Nico's rants calmly and quietly when he'd come to camp, demanding that he leave himself out of the whole 'Gaea thing'.

_**Seems like every little word I say...**_

Percy said that to Nico he was always welcome to abort the mission if he wanted to, but he was one of their only hopes at defeating Gaea. So he kept trying to convince himself not to, but he still went through it anyway.

_**Keeps getting twisted...**_

After he went as an undercover agent in the camp, not alerting the enemy that this was Nico, he spent more time at camp, wanting to be the first to know if anything bad happened.

_**Or coming out wrong...so baby hold on...**_

This also forced him to spend more time around Percy as well. He soon realized his friend, his cousin he once knew was not as entirely gone as he thought. He'd spent enough time at camp to see Percy crack smiles that almost resembled his usual grin every now and then.

_**I'm tryin' to hit the mark but I'm shooting with broken arrows...**_

After spending so much time at camp, he and Percy were almost back to the way they were before. ALMOST.

_**But I'm shooting with broken arrows...**_

Everything was going well until Nico broke out in another argument again that had something to do with Gaea and how he and countless others would be killed and it would be Percy's fault if he or anyone else died. He never even realized how much guilt he placed on the eighteen-year-old's shoulders that day.

_**It's like I'm shooting with broken arrows...yeah...**_

Then came the day Percy died. A day that Nico would never forget.

_**It's like I'm shooting with broken arrows...yeah...**_

Chiron and and a sobbing Annabeth had turned up after Gaea's death at the camp with a beaten, broken and bleeding Percy in his arms. If he hadn't known any better, he would say Chiron looked as though he was about to cry even from underneath the facade he was putting on as he hurriedly rushed the young hero to the infirmary.

_**It's like I'm shooting with broken arrows...yeah...**_

Nico didn't know what was going on until he looked through the window to the infirmary to see them covering up Percy's body with a white sheet.

_**But I'm shooting with broken arrows...**_

Nico couldn't remember how much he'd cried that day. Percy Jackson was gone. One of his best friends was gone. His cousin, his brother was gone. Percy was gone. He was dead, and the last words Nico had ever said to the young hero before his unexpected death was, _"I hate you."_

_**Oh yeah...broken arrows...**_

Nico walked a little closer to the statue and gently ran his hands over Percy's name engraved in the golden platform.

_**Shooting with broken arrows...**_

The Son of Hades let a single tear escape his eye as he looked back up at the thirteen-year-old Percy version of the statue and said softly, "I'll see you again one day, buddy..."

_**Broken arrows...**_

Hope you guys liked it. Should I do Annabeth or Sally next?


	3. Slipped Away- Annabeth

**I don't own characters or song.**

**Song used: Slipped Away/I Miss You by Avril Lavigne**

_**I miss you...**_

Annabeth dropped onto her bunk bed, sighing.

_**Miss you so bad...**_

She stared down at the picture, the small frame clutched in her shaking hands.

_**I don't forget you...oh it's so sad...**_

It was a picture of her and Percy.

_**I hope you can hear me...**_

In the picture, they were sitting on a park bench in New Rome. They'd visited after the war and gone for lunch around the city. Percy had shown her the street with all 'the cool fountains he thought she'd like.'

_**Cause I remember it clearly...**_

Percy was sitting on the right with an arm draped casually over her shoulder as he held a loose peace out sign with his free hand to the camera. Annabeth sat on the left, smiling at the camera while looking at the boy next to her in amusement from out of the corner of her eye. The picture was taken just under a year ago.

_**The day you slipped away...**_

She studied the photo more closely. Tears welled in her eyes as she realized the smile was flimsy and fake, his body was rigid with..pain? Guilt? His eyes were sad.

It was hard to believe he was dead. The high and mighty Percy Jackson, dying in a monster battle. She knew that wasn't the way Percy wanted to die. He told her so.

_**Was the day I found it won't be the same...**_

_"Percy?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Are you scared of death?"_

_"No."_

_**I didn't get around to kiss you...**_

_"Why?"_

_"Most people aren't scared of death. They're scared of how they're going to die."_

_"How do you want to die?"_

_"By protecting someone I love..."_

_**Goodbye on the hand...**_

She smiled slightly as she stared down at the photo in her hands, at the face of her Percy. She missed him so much.

_**I wish that I could see you again...**_

She felt the tears she'd been holding back start to slide down her face and land with a soft drop on the picture in her hands.

_**I know that I can't...**_

She wondered what was going through his head before he died. Was he at peace? Was he in pain? Did he have any regrets? Was he scared? What was he thinking about before he died? Where is he now? Is he alright? Is he happy?

_**I hope you can hear me...**_

She sighed slightly before setting the photo lovingly on her nightstand, gingerly wiping off the teardrops before she wondered she was doing such a thing.

_**Cause I remember it clearly...**_

The blonde-haired heroine lifted her hands to quickly to wipe the tears that were traveling down her face in small droplets before she turned and lay down on her bed.

_**The day you slipped away...**_

She hadn't gone out of her cabin to the beach or even around camp since Percy's death. In fact, she was planning on leaving the demigod gig behind as Nico had long ago.

_**Was the day I found it won't be the same...**_

She couldn't bear to go back after this. His death hit her hard. What if something like this happened again? She wouldn't be able to handle it.

_**I've had my wake up...won't you wake up...**_

Percy was her best friend. He had been since they'd been fourteen. When they'd entered a romantic relationship two years ago, it had been strange at first. Going from friends to lovers. But they eventually adjusted...and it had felt good.

_**I keep asking why...**_

She first entered the relationship thinking that it wouldn't really last that long, but as they went on dates and everything, Annabeth couldn't help it. She fell for him. Hard.

_**And I can't take it...**_

He was sweet, caring, and really knew how to make someone feel loved. They often went to movies over the weekends (if they weren't dying). She could still remember how he'd always loved to practically retell the story, and how she'd listen in amusement.

_**It wasn't fake...it happened, you passed by...**_

_"Did you see that part where the dude drove the plane straight into the roof and tumbled out? He didn't even have a scratch on him. It was so cool! And he-"_

_"Percy."_

_"Yeah?"_

_**Now you're gone...now you're gone...**_

_"You talk too much."_

_"Hey, that's why you love me."_

_Annabeth stared at him before laughing._

_**There you go...there you go...**_

The corners of Annabeth's lips twitched up slightly into a small smile as she fondly recollected memories of her and Percy in these last few months.

_**Somewhere I can't bring you back...**_

_"Wise Girl?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"I love you."_

_"I cannot consecutively count how many times you've said that in the past five minutes."_

_**Now you're gone...now you're gone...**_

_"But I love you."_

_Annabeth sighed before she leaned in and kissed Percy. "I love you too."_

_**There you go...there you go...**_

The young demigod's eyes glazed over as she recalled the bittersweet memories.

_**Somewhere you're not coming back...**_

The day Percy died, was possibly the worst day of her life...

_**The day you slipped away...**_

She remembered looking over for Percy as she destroyed the hordes of monsters only to see bloodstained columns and dust. She immediately felt dread rise up in her.

_**Was the day I found it won't be the same...no...**_

She worked up the courage to go scavenge for him when she saw the beaten, bloody and two-thirds dead and impaled body of Percy Jackson.

_**The day you slipped away...**_

She was pretty sure she was the one who cried the most that day..well aside from Grover. Or Sally, or Paul...she couldn't imagine how they would be feeling. She had no doubt it hurt for them just as much.

_**Was the day I found it won't be the same...**_

Annabeth turned over on her bed so that she was lying on her side. She stared at the wall for a few minutes before she felt the overwhelming feeling of wanting to cry again. She let a few tears fall as she slowly closed her eyes and whispered, "Percy..."

_**I miss you...**_


	4. See You Again- Sally

**I don't own the characters or song used.**

**Song used: See You Again by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth**

_**It's been a long day without you, my friend...**_

Sally Jackson-Blofis maneuvered skillfully around the bookcase as she tidied it up. Paul was at work and she had nothing to do. The restless urge to feel useful probed her to tidy up the apartment.

_**And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again...**_

Catching a glimpse of a book she'd long forgotten about, she absently reached up...

_**We've come a long way from where we began...**_

And knocked off a photograph onto the carpeted floor. Sally bent down to pick it up before stopping short and freezing as she saw the picture.

_**Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again...when I see you again...**_

It was a picture of Percy and Annabeth at the beach, holding each other's hands as they smiled at the camera. Tears rushed into her eyes as her shaking hands pulled the picture of her precious kid to her. As she picked it up, however, a note she hadn't noticed fell out of the crack between the photo and frame.

_**Damn, who knew all the planes we flew...good things we've been through...**_

Sally dropped the cleaning supplies and collapsed onto the couch. She set the photo gingerly down beside her and read the note.

_**That I'll be standing right here...talking to you about another path...**_

_Dear Mom,_

_Merry Christmas from Camp. I hope you liked the photo, it was the least I could send. Annabeth and I are doing well, as is everyone else. I hope you're doing okay. I miss you. Say hi to Paul for me. Annabeth also says hello. I want you to know that whatever happens to me, I'll always be with you._

_I love you._

_Percy._

_**Know we loved to hit the road and laugh...but something told me that it wouldn't last...**_

Sally stared numbly at the picture, uncomprehending as she swallowed her tears. Oh, her son, her gem. How she'd loved him. But with the fondness came the bittersweet memories. Particularly that time last week...

_**Had to switch up look at things different see the bigger picture...**_

Annabeth had shown up at the door. When she'd rung the doorbell, Sally had tried with all her might not to fling open the door and see her son standing there with his usual grin.

_**Those were the days hard work forever pays now I see you in a better place...**_

Instead...

_The doorbell rung once before an uncomfortable silence ensued the apartment as Sally and Paul hurried to the door. When they opened it, they saw Annabeth...but no Percy._

_Annabeth said nothing, she looked down at a bit of an angle. Only then did Sally notice what she was wearing. She wore a long-sleeved black top and a black skirt. Annabeth looked back up and her faded gray eyes welled with tears before she allowed them to spread down her face. _

_**How could we not talk about family when family's all that we got?...**_

_Sally and Paul pulled the broken girl into their arms. Sally's own tears welled in her eyes as the realization hit her full force._

_Her son was dead._

_**Everything I went through you were standing there by my side...**_

Sally forced herself out of the moment as she heard the photo clatter to the floor.

_**And now you gonna be with me for the last ride...**_

No, it wasn't fair. Percy was a special person. He knew how to fight, but he also had heart. That made him dangerous. But that was what made him, him. What made him _Percy._

_**It's been a long day without you, my friend...**_

Sally carefully pressed a tender kiss onto the photograph as she slid the photo back onto its place on the shelf and adjusted it. She found an empty frame and pressed the note into it, before walking slowly to her bedroom.

_**And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again...**_

She opened the door which greeted her with a slight creak. Shuffling in, she placed the frame onto her nightstand and paused as another tidal wave of memories washed over her. She left quietly, shutting the door behind her.

_**We've come a long way from where we began...**_

Sally walked into the kitchen to dispose of her cleaning supplies. Her heart ached as she saw the blue food dye stocked against a wall. Putting the supplies away, she slid down to the cold, hard tile floor and recalled every good memory she'd had. One stood out.

_**Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again...when I see you again...**_

_"Mom?"_

_"Yes, honey?"_

_"Why do you make blue cookies?" Eight-year-old Percy gazed up at her with large sea-green eyes. Sally laughed and kissed her son on the forehead before tipping some more food dye into the batter. _

_"Because so many people say blue food isn't real, sweetie. Not only am I proving them wrong, but it tastes great. Why are you asking? Do you not want me to make them anymore?" Sally gave her son a sly smile as she said that. Percy's eyes grew wide._

_"No! I want you to make them. They're the best cookies ever!" He shrieked before Sally pulled him up. "This is the batter. You want to help me color it?" Percy gave an eager nod. She handed him the bottle and he poured it into the bowl..._

_...getting some on his shirt. "Percy!" Sally said playfully. It was a blue shirt anyways. Percy smiled up at his mom as she showed him how to pour it._

_Needless to say, the day ended up with half a batch of blue cookies and a food fight._

_**First, you both go out your way...and the vibe is feeling strong and what's...**_

Getting up, Sally gave a sad smile to the kitchen as she left, closing the door behind her. Staring blankly at the room in front of her, the house had never seemed so empty.

_**Small turn to a friendship, a friendship...turn into a bond and that bond will never...**_

Glancing up at the staircase, an overwhelming urge left her absently walking towards it. She was four steps to the staircase before she stopped.

_**Be broken and the love will never get lost...and when brotherhood come first then the line...**_

She shouldn't do it. But she just had to. The week had seemed like years, and she needed some kind of comfort. She forged forward.

_**Will never be crossed established it on our own...When that line had to be drawn and that line is what...**_

Climbing up the stairs, Sally heard the echoing steps of her feet on the stairs. They emphasized the emptiness of the house. Sally swallowed back the tears.

_**We reach so remember me when I'm gone...**_

Finally, Sally reached her destination. Standing at the top of the stairs, Sally came face to face with a faded blue door. The gold handle was well used and worn, but it had never felt so smooth as when Sally laid her shaking hand on it.

_**How could we not talk about family when family's all that we got?...**_

Sally gripped the handle as she traced the name _Percy_ on the door, in dark blue. Gathering up her courage, she finally managed to get a steady grip on the handle.

_**Everything I went through you were standing there by my side...And now you gonna be with me for the last ride...**_

She turned it, and was met with a slight creak that for a moment illuminated the house before falling into silence again. Pushing the door open, Sally once again saw the faded blue walls and the same bed, cupboard, nightstand, photos, everything.

_**So let the light guide your way hold every memory...**_

Sally walked in and stared around. Percy's posters of who knew what were still on the walls. The bed was still unmade, and the clock was still on the nightstand. She sat heavily on the soft mattress and gazed at the pictures.

_**As you go and every road you take will always lead you home...**_

They were in chronological order, only serving as more of a reminder of how much Percy had grown from the fun twelve-year-old to the serious boy she'd seen a few months ago. Not that he didn't laugh, he did, and he still cracked jokes and things, but he'd changed.

_**It's been a long day without you, my friend...and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again...**_

She sat down at the wooden desk at the foot of Percy's bed. It was covered in photos of him, her, Paul, Annabeth, Camp, his friends...maps and information for quests with notes from Annabeth, letters from Annabeth, some unfinished homework, drachmas.

_**We've come a long way from where we began...**_

Sally abandoned the thoughts in her head that everything would be the same, that everything would be alright. Her baby was gone.

Percy was gone.

_**Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again...**_

Sally let go, and burying her face in her hands, for the first time in a long time, Sally Jackson-Blofis cried.

_**When I see you again...**_


	5. Still Here- Thalia

**I don't own the songs or characters used.**

**Song used: Still Here by Digital Daggers**

_**Musing through memories...losing my grip in the grey...**_

Thalia grit her teeth as her shaking arms, desperately trying to fire a shot into the face of a frightened bear.

_**Numbing the senses...I feel you slipping away...**_

Her hand was on the bowstring and was drawing the arrow back but she couldn't release it.

_**Fighting to hold on...**_

Thalia felt like she was being watched. But she didn't know why she cared.

_**Clinging to just one more day...**_

The silver-clad Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis tightened the grip on her bow before sighing and dropping it to her side in defeat. "Scram."

_**Love turns to ashes...with all that I wish I could say...**_

The bear wasted no time and scrambled to its feet, letting a frightened whimper out as it bounded into the thick shrubbery of the forest in desperation to guard his life. Thalia growled and turned, punching the tree with her gloved hand. "Damn you. Why did you have to go and die?"

_**I'd die to be where you are...**_

About a month ago or so, Thalia had noticed the absence of reports of her ebony cousin in New York and the Iris messages from him every Sunday and assumed he was on a quest or had gone temporarily inactive.

_**I tried to be where you are...**_

She'd seen reports that the young hero, who was now known for non-demigod related heroics in New York, had been presumed dead. Of course, Thalia refused to believe that. The Son of Poseidon was probably on a quest or something.

_**Every night I dream you're still here...**_

She thought nothing of it until she'd run into her brother while patrolling New York alone at night after she'd caught his attention with her silver attire. Unfortunately, they'd had a recent falling out with each other shortly after the war and they were not each other's favorite person right now. The meeting had started with the siblings' electric blue eyes glaring at the other pair.

_**The ghost by my side...so perfectly clear...**_

Not long after their first encounter and escaping, she was confronted again by the son of Jupiter during her dinner interval at a diner, and was about to go back to base when she was interrupted by him.

_**When I awake...you'll disappear...**_

Jason didn't seem concerned about her disturbed trip. He just stepped from beside the glass door with a knowing but sad look on his face. Thalia assumed it was because he'd found out the Hunters were assigned to New York for six months but didn't stay at Camp.

_**Back to the shadows...with all I hold dear...with all I hold dear...**_

_"So you finally realized, huh? Took you long enough. And you call yourself a part of the seven. Tch. And it takes you so long to find out your own sister is in New York?"_

_**I dream you're still here...**_

Though, the response she got from her brother was, to say the least, not what she expected.

_**Hidden companion...phantom be still in my heart...**_

_"You were here this whole time. You didn't think of coming to camp? Of telling us you weren't dead?"_

_**Make me a promise that time won't erase us...**_

_"Tch. If you really cared, Jason, you'd come scavenging for me and yelling at our father for abandoning us when we needed him the most. But no, nothing!"_

_**That we were not lost from the start...**_

_"Thalia..."_

_**I'd die to be where you are...I tried to be where you are...**_

_"No! Don't you dare call me by that name like you know me! You don't care! You never did!"_

_"Thalia."_

_**Every night...I dream you're still here...**_

_"No. Why don't you go back to camp? Back to that cousin of ours that you love more than me. He's the Golden One, right? Your favorite? The perfect cousin and hero? I bet if he went missing or was in town, you'd try and see him in a heartbeat, right?"_

_**The ghost by my side...**_

_"Thalia-"_

_"No Jas-"_

_"Percy's dead."_

_**So perfectly clear...**_

_"...what?"_

_**When I awake...you'll disappear...**_

_"Percy's dead, Thalia. He died more than a month ago."_

_"...you're kidding."_

_**Back to the shadows...with all I hold dear...**_

She had looked up and expected to see the fearless Jason Grace, only to be met with the sight of what looked to be the shell of a broken teen standing in front of her. The expression of pure sadness and remorse on the hero's face was alarmingly evident.

_**With all I hold dear...**_

Thalia sighed and pulled her hand away from the tree as she thought about that night and slung her bow across her back and put her arrow back in the quiver.

_**I dream you're still here...**_

Ever since that night...hunting hadn't been so easy for her.

_**I dream you're still here...**_

Every time she held a bow to an animal or a monster who'd just been passing by and not causing a ruckus, she felt like she was being watched and could faintly hear a voice at the back of her head telling her it was wrong or there was another way.

_**Ever slightly out of reach...I dream you're still here...**_

She didn't know why, but she listened to it.

_**But it breaks so easily...**_

"Dammit, get the hell out of my head!" She yelled, raking her hands through her short, dark hair, not seeming to care who heard him.

_**I've tried to protect you...I can't let you fade...**_

Thalia let out a frustrated growl before she looked up towards the sky with a heated glare, and then shifting her gaze to the floor. "You're probably sitting in Elysium laughing your ass off at me, aren't you, Kelp Head?"

_**I feel you slipping...I feel you slipping away...**_

"Nearly always smiling, laughing, being cheerful all the time... I don't understand you. I don't think I ever will."

_**Every night, I dream you're still here...**_

"...and the hugs, oh god the _hugs... _you affectionate dumbass."

_**The ghost by my side...so perfectly clear...**_

"And even now you're haunting me from beyond the grave? Trying to infect me with your stupid sympathy and compassion!" She lifted her head to yell at the sky again.

_**When I awake... you'll disappear...**_

She looked back down and glowered at the ground. "I used to think I hated you, you know..."

_**Back to the shadows...with all I hold dear...**_

"Now...I'm not so sure..."

_**With all I hold dear...I dream you're still here...**_

"I hated you because everyone seemed to love you more...but Death Breath...Nico...he told me that after your death, everyone lost it. They put monsters into Tartarus faster than Lady Artemis could shoot arrows. But they still didn't do anything unnecessary."

_**Ever slightly out of reach...I dream you're still here...**_

She clenched her fists slightly. "I hear Poseidon sometimes neglected you. Abandoned you. Kicked you out. You two didn't have much contact...you argued quite a bit...I don't hate you. Not anymore, but the gods are still at fault."

_**But it breaks so easily...**_

Thalia felt guilt gnawing at her heart as she looked back up to starry sky one last time, and saw Zoë Nightshade running across the sky, bow at the ready. "I'm sorry, Percy...I'm so sorry..."

_**I dream you're still here...**_

**I hope you guys liked it. Please review, check out my other stories, my Wattpad account under the same name, and if you have any story requests feel free to PM me ( I write Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus and YOUNG JUSTICE!)**

**Peace out,**

**Ally**


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